Archives

Connector Requirements For LED Lighting

January 15, 2013

By Anonymous

The explosive growth of LED lighting has also sparked the need for connectors with a distinct set of packaging and mechanical capabilities. To work well in LED lighting systems, connectors need to meet all of the following technical requirements:

Compact Package. Low-profile connectors prevent obstruction of the LED light. Our new L1 Series of LED connectors, for example, protrude from the circuit board by only 1.4 mm. A height of 3mm would be more typical for a comparable generic connector that had not been designed for LED applications.

Tolerates Thermal Expansion. Good LED lighting connectors need to accommodate thermal expansion of circuit boards in three axes. For instance, the L1 Series allows circuit board to move relative to one another by +/–0.3 mm in the X and Z directions and by +/–0.5 mm in the Z direction.

Assembles Easily. To avoid damage to delicate LED components, the connector should mate to the receptacle or the joint plug with a minimal insertion force.